A.N. Okay, so I've decided to re-publish this fic but it's taking a slightly different turning than my previous one, and I hope you prefer this one than my other one, and if you do, please write me a little review at the bottom of the page!

Disclaimer: I own natta.

Contact: satansbowtiedottumblrdotcom - replace dot with .

Enjoy =)

It was a cold Halloween Night, and the last thing James Potter wanted to be doing was stuck inside a house with nothing to do. He wouldn't let his wife know just how much the isolation was killing him, but he was certain she had a good idea and was feeling the same way.

On the night of Halloween James was stretched out on the sofa in the living room, gazing out of the window, creating colourful wisps of smoke emerge from out of his wand to amuse the one-year-old boy in blue pyjamas sat at his feet. The one-year-old boy sat at his feet was his son: Harry Potter. The reason why they were in such strict isolation. He was wanted. Someone wanted to kill him.

James was nonchalant, relaxing on the sofa with his eyes closed when his wife rushed into the room. "James - James I saw someone out the back garden."

James jumped up and threw his wand away. It landed on the sofa and he scooped up Harry, passing him to Lily Potter - his wife. "I'll go and have a look."

At that moment, the door burst open. Lily clutched Harry tight to her chest and James grabbed Lily's arm. Lord Voldemort was over the threshold as James came sprinting down the hall. James had forgotten to pick up his wand.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

Purple light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut.

Lily ran up the stairs, tears flooding her eyes. She had just lost her husband and in a few minutes, she would lose her son.

She ran down the landing into Harry's nursery. First she put him in his cot and then began piling furniture up against the door. She didn't know what else to do. She could have escaped out the window - that would have been the smart thing to do, but she was in no state of mind to be thinking straight. She couldn't even see out of her eyes they were so filled with tears. She knew the barricade wouldn't keep out Lord Voldemort, but it was worth a try.

Lord Voldemort forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxes hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his wand and there she stood, the child in the cot. At the sight of him she threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl . . . stand aside, now."

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –"

"This is my last warning –"

"Not Harry! Please . . . have mercy . . . have mercy. . . . Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything –"

"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"

He could have forced her away from the crib, but it seemed more prudent to finish them all. . . .

The purple light flashed around the room and she dropped like her husband. The child had not cried all this time: He could stand, clutching the bars of his crib, and he looked up into the intruder's face with a kind of bright interest, perhaps thinking that it was his father who hid beneath the cloak, making more pretty lights, and his mother would pop up any moment, laughing. He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy's face: He wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, inexplicable danger.

The child began to cry: It had seen that he was not James. He did not like crying, he had never been able to stomach the small ones whining in the orphanage –

"Avada Kedavra!"

And then he broke: He was nothing, nothing but pain and terror, and he must hide himself, not here in the rubble of the ruined house, where the child was trapped and screaming.

...

When Sirius Black received the owl that his best friends had been found unconscious he was highly intoxicated and was in the middle of entertaining a lady friend he had brought round his house. He had a half drunk bottle of Jack Daniels and a half naked nineteen-year-old in his living room, but that didn't stop him from throwing them both out of his flat to go to Hogwarts to see his friends. The bottle of Whiskey was thrown into the half-dressed girl's arms as well as her clothes and a kiss on her cheek. Sirius doubted he'd ever see her again.

He'd met the girl in a nightclub and couldn't even remember her name. It was her friend he had first paid interest in, but she had thrown a drink over his head.

He apparated to Hogsmede like instructed and landed in a dark street with dimly lit lights. He looked around and gathered his bearings. Once he knew where he was, he jogged down the streets to Honeydukes, found the key that was 'hidden' in a plant pot and unlocked the door like he had done so many other times. He locked the door back and put the key above it. Quietly he moved behind the counter and opened the trapdoor, climbed into the cellar and closed it once he was in.

He jumped down the stairs two at a time and pulled back the object that concealed the entrance to Hogwarts. It first lead into a narrow passageway that was poorly lit, and once Sirius closed the door behind him, it was pitch black. Sirius made light appear by his wand and sprinted as quickly as his lungs would allow him down the passage. The light from his wand helped him but not much; he still stumbled and fell over his feet as he ran.

Once he arrived at Hogwarts he was doubled over, his vision dizzy, clutching his sides and panting ferociously. He climbed out of the statue and stumbled around Hogwarts, out of breath and still rather drunk. He regretted the drinks that he had had, but he wasn't to know what would happen after he had been drinking and brought Jessica to his apartment (or was it Jasmine)?

He navigated his way to the Headmaster's Office easily where nine other people resided. Five of them he recognised as Aurors, while the others were Remus Lupin, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and the Minister of Magic. No one looked up when Sirius arrived apart from Remus, who gave him a grave nod.

"Wh - What's happened?"

Albus Dumbledore bowed his head. Albus was a wise, intelligent and honest man. He wouldn't lie even if lying would benefit you in the situation. He might not tell you certain things, but he definitely would not lie. "Minister, would you and your Aurors mind leaving us?"

The Minister looked like he was going to argue, but dismissed his Aurors away and left with them. Albus turned to the young gentlemen, peering at them over his glistening half-moon spectacles. His hair was long, white and wispy, he looked old but he had aged with intelligence and wisdom that his looks greatly acknowledged.

"It seems that a few hours ago, Lord Voldemort did what we all feared he would; he went for James and Lily."

Sirius' face dropped. "What? No – no surely not – they can't be-"

"Albus," began Remus Lupin with worry. "You must be wrong-"

Remus Lupin went to school with James and Lily Potter and Sirius Black. He was best friends with James and Sirius since first year, and their friendship deepened when the two discovered that Remus was a werewolf, bitten by Fenrir Greyback when Remus was only a toddler. Remus had had to suffer with his lycanthropy almost all his life and the awful wounds on his face were evidence enough to show that he hated what happened. They were painful and unintentionally self-inflicted. Remus was always tired due to his nights leading up to, and after, the Full Moon and the effects. His skin was sallow and his hair greying and thin. His green eyes looked hollow, lost with age and deep with horrors. He was also very thin, too.

"No, I'm not," said Dumbledore. "But when the Aurors arrived they discovered that James and Lily were not dead."

"Not – not dead?" Sirius stammered.

"No," Albus repeated. "Not dead. Just in a comatosed state. Madam Pomfrey is running tests on them now, the two of them should be fine."

"And what about the boy?" Asked Minerva McGonagall. "What about Harry?"

Minerva McGonagall had been the boys' Head of House while they were at Hogwarts. They didn't always get along; Minerva putting them in regular detention, but nevertheless; they remained her favourite students years after they left Hogwarts.

Minerva was an elderly witch and had taught for many years before she was granted the Head of House title. She was the Transfiguration Professor and earned the job after Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster. She was very grateful to be following after such a great Wizard, and very fervent to fill his place - which she succeeded in doing very well. She was always very concerned for her students, ex and present, and that was definitely unmistakable in the Potters'; she had offered to look after Harry herself while James and Lily went into hiding, but no one in the Order were willing for her to risk her life.

Albus didn't reply, and Minerva put her hand over her mouth. "He's - he's not-" She couldn't bring herself to say it. She dared not suggest that the little boy was dead already.

"No," Albus clarified. "No he's not dead. But he has a scar, just above his left eye on his forehead. The scar is evidence of Dark Magic being performed. I have one on my knee, I earned it thirty-years ago and it has yet to fade."

"A-And that's it?" Sirius asked. "That's all?"

Sirius Black had always been the most handsome one in the Marauders. His long brown hair and grey eyes and impish humour made girls throw themselves at his feet. He had the choice of any girl that he wanted when he came across them. Needless to say that before James got engaged to Lily, he was the most experienced one in the group - something that was envied by other boys. But Sirius took everything in his stride; he was nonchalant, care free and humorous. He did not have a bad bone in his body.

"And what about James and Lily, Albus?"

Albus cleared his throat. "James and Lily were the victims of a homemade dark arts curse, courtesy of Lord Voldemort. He did not choose to kill the Potter's at the time, merely dismiss them until he had killed Harry. I think he wanted Harry dead before he killed James and Lily, then go back and finish the job."

"Why would he want that?" Sirius asked. "Why not just kill them first? What difference does it made?"

Albus said nothing, he just shook his head. "I do not know."

There was an eerie silence across the room. It was three o'clock in the morning, but neither Sirius nor Remus had ever felt more awake. They dreaded what would happen the following morning; would Lord Voldemort come back for them? Would he kill every student in Hogwarts just to reach Harry and finish the job intended? What would be printed in the Daily Prophet? How would people react?

"But what I can tell you is that the curse is only temporary. I'm afraid that I do not know how temporary until Madam Pomfrey finishes off the tests. All I can estimate, knowing Lord Voldemort, is that the effects could last up to a year."

"A year?" Minerva repeated. "But Albus, that's impossible."

"We thought it would be impossible for him to infiltrate the Fidelius Curse, remember Minerva? Anything is possible if Lord Voldemort sets his mind to it."

"What, so he didn't set his mind enough to kill Harry, did he?" Sirius asked derisively and Albus did not answer him. "Where is he? Where's Harry - where's James and Lily? I want to see them."

"Not until Madam Pomfrey has finished her diagnosis," Minerva settled.

"NO!" Sirius yelled. "NO! I want to see my friends now."

Remus got up and put a hand on his friends shoulder. "We can do. Just keep calm. We have more important things to discuss in the time being."

"Like what," Sirius spat. "What is possibly more important than our best friends being comatosed by Voldemort?"

"Finding Pettigrew? Putting the Death Eaters to justice? Protecting Alice, Frank and Neville? Discussing where Harry's going to live while James and Lily are - are - are like they are."

Sirius spat on the Headmaster's floor. "Fucking bullshit! Why did this happen to them? What did they ever do wrong? Merlin, when I find Peter Pettigrew I'm going to cut out his liver and I'm going to hang him off the Whomping Willow with it. How dare he sell out James and Lily? THEY WERE HIS FRIENDS."

Remus restrained Sirius by putting two hands on his shoulder. He looked at him, eye-to-eye. "Padfoot, please calm down."

"I can't calm down," he hissed. "This is ridiculous."

"I know," Remus soothed. "I know it is. But we have to be strong for Harry's sake - if he sees his Godfather in fits of rage he's going to know something's wrong."

"Which comes to Remus' point about where Harry will reside," Albus interrupted. "Minerva and I have discussed this, and after a lot of reassuring, Minerva reluctantly agreed to the idea that the best place for Harry to live will be with his Uncle and Aunt in Surrey."

"Excuse me?" Remus repeated. "The best place for him to live is with Sirius - have you even met Petunia Dursley, Albus? With all due respect, you're an extremely intelligent Wizard, but this has got to be one of the stupidest things you have ever said."

"It's for the best."

"No, what's for the best will be for Harry to be loved and to live with James and Lily. Surely you're not planning on leaving him with the Dursley's full-time even when James and Lily have recovered?" Albus and Minerva made no response. "THIS IS ABSURD! Leave him with the Dursley's? They'd never agree to this."

"I'm afraid they'll have no say-"

"-You expect Lily to just sit back and watch her sister raise her son like a servant?" Remus spluttered. "You expect James not to go round there, the minute he's recovered and demand that Harry be given back to him? Because if you think James and Lily won't give Harry up without a fight then I'm sorry Albus, but you're out of your mind."

"He's right Albus. What Harry needs best is his parents love."

"What Harry needs best is safety and security, and the Dursley's can provide that."

"CAN YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF?" Sirius roared. "Harry will be the most famous boy in the Wizarding World, and to give him to the Dursley's would be like to ship him to another country. He won't be respected there, he won't be loved there. Sure, I'm irresponsible and I once left Harry on the Knight Bus and he ended up in Scotland, but at least I love him and would give him the attention he needs!"

"He's right; the Dursley's couldn't give Harry that."

Albus didn't say anything. "They could come for him; it would be dangerous, Sirius."

"So you're willing to let Petunia, Vernon and their one-year-old son be attacked then?"

"That's not what I mean; Sirius, you're important to the Order of the Phoenix. The Dursley's would prove no threat to Death Eaters; they would be almost impossible to find."

"Death Eaters?" Sirius repeated. "Death Eaters aren't the problem here; it's Voldemort they ought to worry about."

Albus smiled, and it was odd that he did and it made Sirius question why. "Because it seems, that the good thing to come out of this, is that Lord Voldemort has been defeated. For now, that is."

"He's been defeated?" Remus repeated. "Once and for all?"

"As far as I can tell. But these things can never be clarified so prematurely to the event. For now, I shall say that Lord Voldemort has been defeated. But whether or not the effects of last night are permanent I cannot comment. I think the news will be a relief to many ears, and there will be celebrations at Hogwarts and across the world when news gets out. We shall assemble the students tomorrow morning - Minerva, alert the Head of Houses please and lead Sirius and Remus down to the Infirmary. I think they'll want to be reunited with their friends and perhaps Madam Pomfrey can shed some light on this situation."

"Yes Albus."

"Thank you."

They left the Headmaster's Office quite quickly. Both were anxious to see the Potters', and despite their comatose state, Sirius and Remus were beyond glad that they would eventually recover and that Harry was safe, sound and unscathed.

It had been awhile since both men had walked the corridors of Hogwarts, but once Minerva had left them to go up to Professor Flitwick's Office; they both easily navigated their way down to the Hospital Wing. They were still in awe of the castle: the moving staircase, the glimmering torchlight's and the animate paintings sleeping in their frames. Sirius remembered the countless nights he spent wandering down the hallways and corridors, returning from the kitchens or late nights out at Hogsmede. Sirius grinned at the fond memories with James and Lily and thought about the future Harry would get up to.

They reached the Hospital Wing, and like they had done so many times before, walked in without a word. Sirius had stolen so many ointments and bandages and potions over the previous ten years that he was surprised the school still had enough money to fund treatments.

James and Lily looked as if they were sleeping. There was no sign they had just been the victims of the Darkest Wizard of their age, they merely looked as if they were in a peaceful, undisturbed sleep. Sirius took Lily's hand in his and kissed it lightly, and rubbed James' arm.

"Don't worry guys; I'll look after Harry for you."

"That'll scare them; not comfort them," Remus joked. "But I'm serious you two: Harry will be in good hands."

"Even though he hasn't got a Mother and a Father at the moment, having two substitute Fathers will be just as good. Even better than having Lily around actually; we'll let Harry do whatever he wants."

"Eat what he wants."

"Stay out as late as he wants."

"Go to Knockturn Alley."

"Sleep with as many girls as he wants."

"Or boys," Remus smiled. "We won't mind."

Sirius laughed. "Joking aside, Harry will be in the best of hands until you two get better. Speaking of which, where is the little Hero?"

Remus looked around the Hospital Wing. Every bed was emptied and Madam Pomfrey's office seemed empty. There was no sign that Harry was anywhere near. "I don't know, with Madam Pomfrey probably. Hey, you don't think James and Lily are going to stay in the Hospital Wing permanently, do you?"

"Nah, they'll be moved to Mungo's."

"But at St. Mungo's they could risk an attack. Surely Albus will argue that it's safer for them at Hogwarts."

"They can't rent the Hospital Wing to them."

Remus shrugged. "I think they're worth it."

"They're always worth it."

Half an hour passed until Rubeus Hagrid, the gargantuan gamekeeper of Hogwarts, arrived with tiny little baby Harry Potter in his arms. He carried Harry over to James, Sirius, Lily and Remus. Sirius and Remus were too enthralled in talking with James and Lily to notice the giant carrying the baby in his arms. It wasn't until Harry let out a shriek of delight did Sirius and Remus turn their attentions to them.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed.

Both men rushed forward to see the young boy. Like Albus had told them, Harry had a scar above his left eye on his forehead. Remus winced, stating that even that was a hurtful wound. Sirius just stared at it. It was still blood red raw but not a single drop of blood poured out of it. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt. It was as if the scar was purposelydesigned for Harry and the lightning shape had some sort of... significance.

"Hullo Sirius. I've bin lookin' after little 'Arry for Professor Dumbledore until you arrived. Well I suppose you should take 'im now," but before he did, Hagrid planted a light kiss on Harry's forehead away from his scar. "'orrible thing, ain't it? At least that's the worst to come outta all o' this - 'as Professor Dumbledore told you 'ow long James and Lily are gonna be like this?"

"Not yet," Remus answered darkly. "He said it could be up to a year."

"A year?" Hagrid repeated loudly - almost loud enough to arouse the Potters' from their comatose state. "Surely not..."

"That's what he said," said Sirius, gently rocking Harry to and fro. "I don't believe this."

"Believe that Dumbledore's trusted you to look after Harry?" Remus joked.

"No - that Peter would turn over James and Lily to Voldemort."

"Wha'? Pe'er Pe'igrew couldn't do summit like that! You must be mistaken - I though' you were the Secret Keeper, Sirius!"

"We switched the other day," Sirius explained. "I - I thought the Death Eaters were going to come after me - to find me and torture me and interrogate me over where James and Lily were hiding. I was going to go into hiding myself, and I thought, that by allowing Wormtail to be Secret Keeper, the Death Eaters wouldn't think for a minute that we'd trust such a slime ball like him. But he was already a Death Eater by the time we trusted him... I can just imagine the look on his little fat face when he was able to sell them out – but James was his best friend - he loved Harry to pieces."

"Being scared can do stuff tah people, Sirius. You know dat."

Sirius was shaking, and all he could do was nod his head for the minute that seemed to pass. "I'm going to take Harry back to mine, and in the morning, I'm going to see if I can't find Pettigrew and kill him-"

"-Sirius," Remus began. "Is it wise for you to take Harry home in this state? You're half-drunk and full of rage-"

"-I'm fine, Remus," Sirius cut across. "I'm fine. Just - just owl me or send a Patronus if you hear any news on James or Lily. I need to get Harry to bed."

"You don't have a crib-"

"He can sleep in my bed; I won't be sleeping for the night."

"Sirius-"

"-I'm fine Remus, honest to Merlin I am. If I need any help I'll call over Alice and get her to look after Harry." Even still, Remus cast Sirius a sceptical glance. "I'll be fine Remus - I promise."

...

DARK LORD CONQUERED AT LAST.

The words every journalist has been longing to write and it seems that almost after twenty years of scaring the Wizard World, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has at last, been defeated.

By a one-year-old boy, no less.

Late into the night of 31st October in Godric's Hollow, it was reported that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named broke into James (21) and Lily (21) Potter's house set in mind to kill the couple and their one-year-old son, Harry, but was incapable of doing so.

Lily and James Potter - both Head Boy and Head Girl whilst at Hogwarts - went into hiding just a week before their house's enchanted spell was penetrated by none other than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We are not sure which enchantments were placed upon the house, but we are sure that two talented Witches and Wizards like themselves were capable of casting the strongest of spells to keep their son - and each other - safe.

It was Harry - a mere one-year-old boy that the Darkest Wizard of our generation was seeking. Our sources indicate that he got past the Potter's with a special, homemade dark curse which caused them to be in an ill state, and moved onto kill Harry using the Killing Curse but was unable. It is implied that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did in fact; use the Killing Curse on the boy, but it seems that Harry was strong enough to defend himself from the curse - the only Wizard known to have survived it.

It remains a mystery how He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named found and attacked the house, but we are pleased to announce that each of the Potters' are alive and well. Though James and Lily remain in a comatose state for the foreseeable future, Harry James Potter resides with his Godfather: Sirius Black (21) in a safe house nearby the Potters'.

This was just a snippet of one of thousands of stories being told by various media reporters concerning the Potters' story. Sirius had been offered hundreds of galleons for the whole truth, but he had rudely refused them all. Remus had refused them all, also. Albus Dumbledore, though being offered thousands of galleons for a short tale, politely declined and offered each reporter in for a lemon drop, to which it was their turn to politely refuse.

Albus told Sirius and Remus to enjoy themselves; James and Lily were fine and Harry was alive. But they had a one-year-old child to take care of now, and partying incessantly wasn't very good parenting. Just one morning had passed and Sirius considered himself fully educated in the art of parenting. He didn't understand what all of James' complaining was about; parenting was a breeze.

Sirius sat with his feet up on the sofa, Daily Prophet stretched out on his lap. He gazed up at the ceiling, staring at the cracks in the plaster. His wand and Harry lay right beside him. He looked pretty nonchalant, if you were to peer through his window at that moment, but inside his handsome head, thoughts were racing round his mind a hundred miles a minute. His face was expressionless. His feelings, however, were not.

"You know what Harry," Sirius began. "As Godfather, I'm going to make a promise to you. Not the promise that I'm going to look after you always - none of that crap - but that I'm going to find the man that did this to your parents and I'm personally going to hunt him down and kill him. Is that alright, Harry?" Harry gurgled in response. "I'll take that as a yes."

Peter Pettigrew. Peter flaming Pettigrew. Sirius would give anything to go after that little rat and finish him off once and for all. But Albus had given him strict instructions not to leave his flat unless there was an emergency. Sirius wondered if plotting the death of his ex-best friend would clarify as an emergency, but Sirius only had to imagine the look Albus would give him and realised that it was a bad idea.

He, Peter, James and Remus had been best friends all through Hogwarts - they had trusted each other with their lives and in James' case, their son. Sirius was pissed off that one of them had even thought about abandoning them. If he was honest, he had expected it to be Remus.

He felt awful at the mere memory. He thought it would be Remus who would betray them. Remus, who had taken so much shit in his life about being a werewolf. Sirius had thought so because Lord Voldemort recruited werewolves and made them feel welcome. What would Sirius have done? Would Sirius have stayed with the side that treated werewolves and people like him as crap? Or would he had gone to the side that truly welcomed him. Remus must have had his doubts, Sirius was sure, but Remus was a smart, brave and sensible man - more so than Sirius. It was Remus who should have been made Godfather, not him.

But yet, with Harry sitting beside him, Sirius felt like a Father, like someone depended on him. For the past ten years of his life Sirius had always been against parenting and long commitments. He had dumped girls in the past if they ever even mentioned a life after Hogwarts with him. But now what was he thinking? Did he actually want children? He had loved taking care of Harry these past six hours. Yes, he had looked after Harry for longer than six hours in the past, but he always knew he would have to give him up to James and Lily eventually. Now who knew when he was going to have to give up Harry again? If ever...

No, they're going to come round; they have to; it's James and Lily. There's no other option.

...

Albus Dumbledore left his office and Hogwarts to pay a visit to Sirius Black. He knew that it was important to inform Sirius of the good news and later, Remus. No doubt Sirius was still awake - frantically awake and shaken from the events of the preceding night. And as Albus suspected, Sirius sat on his living room sofa staring into the fireplace when Albus stepped out of it. When he did, Albus had never seen Sirius so alarmed; he jumped up and held out his wand, guarding Harry from the intruder.

"You scared me," Sirius exclaimed. "Couldn't you have knocked?"

"My apologies," Albus defended. "I come bearing good news."

"I could do with some of that," Sirius remarked, throwing his wand down on the sofa. "Do you want a drink?"

"I don't think you should let your guard down so promptly, Sirius; what if I was a Death Eater trying to attack you?"

"Well you're not otherwise you would have done so by now..." Albus cleared his throat. "Do we really have to go through this every time we see each other?"

"For now, yes."

Sirius groaned. "Fi-ne – what's your sister called?"

"Sirius, please - anyone can find that out."

"Alright then: what did your brother aspire to do for an occupation before he became the Landlord of the Hog's Head?"

"Better. He was a goat herder - as strange as a career choice that would be. Now it's my turn: what's your Patronus?"

"A dog," he replied. "Now will you tell me what's going on?"

"Please, sit."

Albus gestured towards Sirius' own sofa. Sirius sat back down in the place he had previously occupied right beside Harry and his wand. Albus tucked in his robes and took the vacant armchair by the fire. He complimented the fireplace to begin with and then moved onto the greater matter: "Madam Pomfrey has completed her diagnosis. She thinks Lily and James will be fully-conscious again in thirty-seven days."

"Thirty-seven days?" Sirius echoed. "Well that's -" he began counting on his fingers until he reached the desired date. "The tenth of December!"

"That's not long yet. I thought I should come and give you some good news; you could do with some positive news after last night."

"I think we all could."

"It couldn't have been easy for you," Albus commiserated.

"It wasn't easy for any of us. Albus, it seems that everyone I seemed to go to Hogwarts with slipped under my fingers; first Mary gets shipped off to the other side of the world on business and the Longbottom's are... where-they-are, Pettigrew turned out to be a traitor and now Lily and James are comatosed! Marlene's dead so what's next Albus - who's next?"

"We're safe now; a vast majority of the Death Eater's have been captured and no permanent damage has been done-"

"-Apart from to Alice and Frank," Sirius muttered darkly. "How could we just forget about them? They were in as much danger as James and Lily."

"Voldemort didn't go after them and he got defeated. We thought they were safe."

"Now you think that we're safe but for how long? You don't know when Voldemort's going to return, it could be any week or any day! None of us are safe yet Albus, not really!"

Albus rose. "I only came to give you good news; I didn't mean to agitate you."

Sirius repositioned himself so that his right ankle rested on his left knee. "You know where the door is."

...

James and Lily were moved from the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts to a private ward at St. Mungo's. They were put on the top floor for 'special' patients with strict security and restricted access. Sirius and Remus visited the Potters' everyday and took Harry on regular visits, but the visit they dreaded the most was the one that occurred three days after the Potter's attack and the day of Albus' visit, and it concerned another attack.

"James, Lily... There's something you need to know. We've been told you can hear us, so I think it's better you hear it sooner from us rather than later from the Daily Prophet or a Nurse or someone else. But soon, downstairs, you're going to be joined by someone else from the Order."

"Sadly it's not Pettigrew who suffered fatal accidental attacks-"

"-Padfoot," Remus hissed. "Can you not?"

"Sorry Moony."

"Thank you," he continued. "This is pretty hard to say but Frank and Alice Longbottom have been attacked."

"Way to put it bluntly Remus."

"Will you be quiet?" Remus snapped.

"It's someone's time of month," Sirius muttered under his breath.

Remus didn't reply; Sirius was correct. "So, anyway... Last night while they were sleeping, four Death Eaters - Bartemius Crouch J.R, Bellatrix, Rodolphous and Rabastan Lestrange - broke into their home and tortured them incessantly with the Cruciatus Curse to give them details on the Order of the Phoenix. Obviously it was an impulsive, unplanned attack because they didn't expect or plan for when before Alice went to defend her husband, she sent a Patronus to Albus telling him what was going on. So the entire Order apparated to the Longbottom's house, captured the Lestrange's and Crouch and now they're due to be tried in Azkaban as soon as possible. Lucky for Neville, he was staying with his Grandmother Augusta while this happened so he is safe and will be living with him for now on as Frank and Alice have been admitted permanently to St. Mungo's which is unfortunate."

"Really?" Sirius scoffed. "I thought it was fantastic."

"Don't be so sarcastic, Padfoot," Remus complained. "This is serious."

"Pardon the pun," he coughed. "So speaking of Death Eaters, I managed to get my hands on a copy of Death Eaters captured or dead from Miss. Amelia Bones."

"How did you manage that?" Remus asked, clearly impressed.

Sirius shrugged. "She's got a niece Harry and Neville's age - only had to play the sympathy card." He cleared his throat. "Antonin Dolohov was arrested - the evil slimy bastard that he is, and thrown in Azkaban yesterday morning much to Molly Weasley's delight. Augustus Rookwood's on the list but I've never heard of him... Avery Snr. was put in Azkaban and his son - his son in our year - claimed he was under the Imperius Curse all this time! Can you believe that Moony? That slimy git almost raped Mary by putting her under the Imperius!"

"It's absurd," Remus agreed. "But Lucius Malfoy's playing the same card and hoping to escape his chances of going to Azkaban."

"Should be thrown in Azkaban - the whole lot of them," Sirius spat and continued to read off the list. "Igor Karkaroff - whoever that is - is being tried in several weeks time. Evan Rosier, George Selwyn, Robert Rowle, Matthew Travers - thank Merlin he is for killing Marlene - and apparently William Wilkes has been killed... There are more on the list but I've not heard of them... Anyway, seems like the war is over thanks to Harry, and he's fine. All that matters now is you two getting better and that is in approximately thirty-seven days."

"Thank Merlin," Remus checked his watch. "We better get going now otherwise Healer Crawley will kill us."

"We'll be back tomorrow," Sirius promised. "And the day after that."

"And the day after that."

"We'll bring Harry next time, only Molly offered us the night off and we couldn't refuse. So where do we go? We go straight down and see our best friends! See how dedicated we are?"

Remus shoved Sirius playfully. "Come on Padfoot, move it."

Thanks for reading if you got this far, and if you liked it, please send me a REVIEW and next chapter you'll see all reviews be answered in this little bit at the bottom of my fic.